Phāea Cretan Malia, a Member of Design Hotels

Beautifully designed lobby and common space area. Beautiful nature well kept. Staff was warm and welcoming.

Its sort of wannabe white lotus if you know what I mean but far from there (not that we expected that to say in advance). Rooms vary in quality and location significantly. Our garden view room was overlooking kids playground with not more than 2 meters of space from the room. At the end we never sat at the balcony. Kind of awkward to get out of the shower and think whether kids will see you naked. Also bit humid, not superb smell in the bathroom. Far from 5 stars quality despite decent size and nice design. Its located in quite a terrible place of Malia (we knew that so no worries; had rentacar and planned to drive around in any case) and hotel restaurants are very nice looking however food quality is just not there for that price. It would be silly to spent these euros in the hotel whereas you can ear far better food and drinks in Elounda or Agios Nikolaos. We pretty much ended up dining out every single night. Also some stuff are just crazy like having no water daily delivered to the room (or you can get it but for extra charge) and having store that sells it but that is open only for cpl hours per day so you get forced to buy bottles at the bar for 4-5 euros. Or like 4 eur espresso and 10 eur glasses of wine and 15 eur aperols. You just start hating the environment with these prices after cpl days regardless of the fact that it looks nice. Beach looks beautiful but waves made it pretty much unswimmable. I read that before I thought that It cant benthat kuch of a problem but it is. You technically cannot swim in the sea if there are waves.

An unforgettable stay at Phāea Cretan Malia! 🤍 The resort is beautiful, peaceful, and surrounded by lush gardens and nature. We loved the authentic Cretan atmosphere, the elegant design, and the attention to detail throughout the property. The food was delicious, the staff was warm and attentive, and the overall atmosphere was perfect for a relaxing holiday. The beach and pools were wonderful, and everything felt very well organized. A beautiful place that combines traditional Cretan charm with modern comfort. We truly enjoyed our stay and would happily return! ✨

Location, restaurants and style of rooms

Lots of families and children using the gym

Nice family hotel staff friendly

I feel like the property was advertised like more of a farm to table, small, boutique vibe than it actually is. It is a large family hotel with one special restaurant but website it definitely misleading.